Above is a recent ad for the Birthright program which offers free trips for young Jewish adults to Israel in order to "diminish the growing division between Israel and Jewish communities around the world." The ad would seem to be the first product from Birthright’s new PR firm 5W Public Relations, a controversial firm that also works with the video series Girls Gone Wild, as well as Christians United for Israel and a number of right-wing Jewish organizations. Coming on the heels of the Israeli government-supported ads showing intermarried Jews as "lost," it is another example of the increasingly desperate, and offensive, attempt of Israel’s supporters to reach out to young Jews.
It’s unclear what this ad has to do with attracting young Jews to Israel, but it does seem to reflect the politics of Birthright’s new pr firm. The Forward reported that 5WPR’s CEO, Ronn Torossian, was a founder of the organization Our Jerusalem which "worked to push Israeli Arabs out of Jerusalem. In 2004, he told the Forward, ‘The PLO or P.A., or whatever the gangsters call themselves today, have no place in Jerusalem.’" Jeffrey Goldberg also remembers meeting Torossian a few years ago:
It’s said of Ronn Torossian that he represents "right-wing" Israeli politicians, but this description does not do his clients justice. "Right-wing" is Bibi Netanyahu. Torossian represents the lunatic fringe. Several years ago, in one of my only encounters with him, he introduced me to Benny Elon, a rabbi and settler leader who was then Israel’s tourism minister, and who, at various points in his career, has more or less advocated the ethnic cleansing of Israel of its Arab citizens. At one point, when Elon had gone to take a telephone call, Torossian and I started talking about Israel’s right to reprisal for terrorist attacks. I was arguing in favor of some sort of proportionality (this was after Jenin, in which the Israeli army chose to root out terrorism block by block rather than bomb the city from the air) but Torossian interrupted: "I think we should kill a hundred Arabs or a thousand Arabs for every one Jew they kill."
The ad is right in line with the ongoing effort by Israel’s supporters to demonize Iran and Mahmoud Ahmadinejad in particular. Although it’s not really clear how this ad would make someone want to travel to Israel, one of Birthright’s other goals is to "strengthen the sense of solidarity among world Jewry." Nothing builds solidarity more than a belittling caricature of an insane Middle Eastern leader. Guess it’s getting harder to sell Israel on its own merits.
Update from the comments – Daniel Sieradski writes:
Sorry but you’re totally off. The video was commissioned before 5W came on board (and please sign my petition against Birthright’s hiring of 5W at http://act.ly/dn). My friend Will Levin, of http://jewishrobot.com, created the video. A cartoonist and animator known for his groaning punchlines, Will is a regular contributor to http://jewschool.com, the progressive Jewish blog I founded in 2001.
Will told me in an email yesterday that he conceptualized the video himself and pitched it to Birthright, who were disinterested in the content specifically, focusing instead on its potential reach:
Will said, “It came to be when I said, ‘Iran is a hot topic, so picture this: Ahmadinejad applies to go on Birthright Israel.’ Birthright said, ‘Will it be a viral video?’ and I was like, ‘Maybe.’”
As a friend and colleague of many years, I take Will’s word for it, though I obviously agree it’s in poor taste and that the timing couldn’t be worse. A coordinated attempt to promote hostility against Iran, however, it isn’t.
puke-o-rama…
that’s a pretty twisted campaign to prop israel up as a progressive fountain of falafel. more like cauldron of hate.
Adam, my immediate reaction to this video was that it’s just plain . . . weird. Strikingly unfunny, amateurish, non-sensical. Sure, the usual propaganda that Ahmadinijad is an existential threat to Israel, but what — ? Birthright Israel would even give him a free trip to Israel? That once he gets there, he’s completely converted to love Israel?
I’m not nearly as offended by this video as I was by the Prime Minister’s attempt to tell me that I — as goyim — abducted my Jewish wife from her culture and faith. That slice of propaganda is racist, reprehensible and Goebbels-like in its ethnic-supremacy. This Birthright thing is probably a two-star amateur video on YouTube worthy of about 175 views.
Amen, and think about a connection with the Girls Gone Wild DVD series. Think about it as if it were Jewish Girls Gone Wild, which it definitely is not.
Yes, weird. Perhaps a large group of Palestinian refugees should apply for their free trip to Israel. After all, if Ahmedinejad can get a free trip, why not those who really have a birthright? It might be an effective campaign to call their bluff on this propaganda.
Of course, my understanding is that Birthright Israel doesn’t even want to support those Jews who come to Israel and then volunteer to joint Birthright Unplugged, or the ISM, or other groups that work for justice in the West Bank and Gaza.
Zionists using an Islamic stereotyped Ahmadinijad as an all-purpose boogeyman is becoming a bad habit.
“You will burn in a fiery cauldron of hell!” Isn’t this how Hollywood also likes to stereotype Christian preachers? These people should really get some new material. I think they’ve taken their conrtived public image as sensitive, persecuted liberals about as far as it’s going to go. The facts tell another story and all the Hollywood and MSM propaganda and hasbara in the world isn’t going to be able to pull a curtain over the the truth in the Internet age.
Yes. It’s absolutely how Hollywood stereotypes Christian preachers–not that I
agree with those preachers. But where’s the Hollywood movie about Zionist
preachers? Where’s the new Oz?
I don’t agree with those preachers, either. But I have to wonder how many of them there really are. Judging from depictions produced by Hollywood, those preachers are apparently raging in every third church across America — and two out of three churches in the deep south.
Similarly, judging from Hollywood depictions, two out of three Middle Eastern imams spend their days raging and plotting against Jews, Crusaders, and infidels.
I believe liberal and Jewish-influenced mass media have painstakingly constructed this false consciousness in the minds of the Western masses.
Sorry but you’re totally off. The video was commissioned before 5W came on board (and please sign my petition against Birthright’s hiring of 5W at link to act.ly
My friend Will Levin, of link to
created the video. A cartoonist and animator known for his groaning punchlines, Will is a regular contributor to link to
the progressive Jewish blog I founded in 2001.
Will told me in an email yesterday that he conceptualized the video himself and pitched it to Birthright, who were disinterested in the content specifically, focusing instead on its potential reach:
Will said, “It came to be when I said, ‘Iran is a hot topic, so picture this: Ahmadinejad applies to go on Birthright Israel.’ Birthright said, ‘Will it be a viral video?’ and I was like, ‘Maybe.’”
As a friend and colleague of many years, I take Will’s word for it, though I obviously agree it’s in poor taste and that the timing couldn’t be worse. A coordinated attempt to promote hostility against Iran, however, it isn’t.
Thanks mobius1ski, this is a really helpful update. I still think this video is miserable, but it’s good to know it’s not related to another horrible decision by Birthright (ie 5W), but just an embarrassment on its own. Thanks for letting us know about the petition as well.
Also, just to clarify, I didn’t mean to say that it was actually a coordinated attempt to promote hostility, but more another example of the ongoing theme in the organized Jewish community to vilify Iran.
Well, if the Birthright campaign doesn’t work they can always court the racist contingent and provide opportunities to “shoot the Arabs”.
“Terrorist” targets popular at West Bank gun range
…….
No need felt to by US jews to join the US military and feel pride in being an American.
The USA is like a large state of Hesse back in the days we threw tea in the water, painted as native Americans.
Pride in being a racist.
“The usual Jew abroad” learns. The Zionist learns to kill.
“No need felt to by US jews to join the US military and feel pride in being an American.”
What the hell is this? I mean, other than rank anti-semitism? What does it have to do with anything?
In response to a post by Citizen, Donald wrote:
“What the hell is this? I mean, other than rank anti-semitism?”
That’s interesting. Even though it does indeed seems to be the case that jews are proportionally under-represented in the U.S. military at least (if not tremendously under-represented), I have also seen it called anti-semitism before just when someone brings it up. (And we’ve even got a poster here—Mr. Witty—who has openly said that while he would be proud to see his children serve in the IDF, he would not feel the same way for them to serve in the U.S. military.)
So now Citizen merely takes off on what an *Israeli* (“Gat”) said about jews living elsewhere other than in Israel: I.e. they don’t tend to gravitate towards the military. “They learn to be doctors and lawyers,” Gat himself (and not Citizen) said.
So aren’t you over-looking the fact that this *was* said by an Israeli and not by Citizen? And don’t you think that if a non-jewish person said this that under your standard he or she would be called an anti-semite?
And what about your standard vis a vis this business *from the Israeli Prime Minister’s office* saying jews who marry gentiles are “lost” and compares them—amazingly—to people who have been abducted.
I.e., how is this not anti-gentilism of the purest kind? Purveyed, again, not just by some private citizen, but by the Israeli Prime *Minister’s* office. In other words, state-sponsored anti-gentilism?
With all due respect Donald, you can’t have it both ways.
Sin Nombre is correct about my earlier comment. Perhaps Donald did not review wha t initiated this thread? He just jumped to his knee jerk and banal conclusion ?Abduction is the criminal act of capturing and carrying away by force a family member; if a man’s wife is abducted it is a crime against the family. Hence the Israeli Prime Minister’s office calls gentiles who marry jews criminal. Or maybe the analogy
is meant to imply said gentiles are aliens from outerspace?
Julian, we all know the American Jews made a contribution to fighting Hitler–why would they not? Since then, their military service contribution proportionate to their population
has been dismal. The disparity between American Jews’ enlistment during WW2 and the fight against Hitler and all the USA wars afterward is gigantic, proportionately speaking– and you call notation of this anti-semitism. I call it sly treason, especially
when one considers how few jews enlisted in the military service to battle against
the war on “terrorism.” A war made up in the fantasy mind of Israel First stink tankers, which afforded the verbiage and rational for what is murdering the USA
as a country to emulate.
More convoluted excuse making for pure anti Semitism.
Representation in the military doesn’t prove or disprove love of America.
In WW2 Jews were vastly overrepresented in the military.
“Over 550,000 served in the Armed Forces of the United States during World War 11. About I 1,000 were killed and over 40,000 were wounded. There were two recipients of the Congressional Medal of Honor, 157 received the Distinguished Service Medal and Crosses, which included Navy Crosses, and 1,600 were awarded the Silver Star. About 50,242 other decorations. citations and awards were given to Jewish heroes for a total of 52,000 decorations. ”
link to fau.edu
Perhaps I was wrong. When America was threatened Jews showed their love for America and put their lives on the line.
Or maybe they were responding not to a threat to America but to European Jews?
Is WWII an anomaly for Jewish service in the US military?
Of course, why wouldn’t American Jews fight the declared enemy of their kind? After WW2, the American Jews have been notable in their disproportionately less participation in all subsequent USA wars. How many neocon stink tankers ever served in the US military at all? Virtually zero. The truth is that when Jews were
threatened by Hitler they showed their love for their own kind by joining America’s fight. Quit insulting our intelligence and information with your spin comments that ignore so much.
Hey, Julian, quit being mentally arrested in Spielberg’s Saving Private Ryan, when the Jewish
American soldier makes a point of being Jewish to the captured German soldiers. When, after WW2 it came down to American wars, the Jewish American soldiers
have been very few and far between, considering their demography in the general
USA demography. And when one considers the war in iraq, afganistan, and (if Israel gets it’s wish. Iran) on “terror”–where’s the Jewish American grunts?
In his comments on the anti-intermarriage campaign, Phil mentioned US tax dollars. I just want to remind everyone that the tax shekels of every Palestinian citizen of Israel, and the illegally withheld taxes of Palestinians in the OT, as well as the tax shekels of other non-Jewish and non-Zionist Israelis, are used to pay for these racist ads and projects. This is the “Jewish character” of the State of Israel, which no political party in Israel may question, which the Netanyahu government wants to enshrine in a “loyalty oath”, and to which – incredibly – leaders of the western world have pledged their commitment.: Israel’s infamous “right to exist AS A JEWISH STATE” – dishonestly equated with “Israel’s right to exist”. There was another post here on the hypocrisy of liberal Jews who fight discrimination in the US but support it in Israel. What about the governments, media and general public who accept the canard that Israel has a right to exist as a Jewish state, when no other state is afforded such a “right”?
Wrong as usual. The Palestinian money from the disputed territories is held in an separate account and not used for Israeli expenses.
I seem to remember giving an oath of loyalty to America every day in school and was delighted to give it. Do you have something against pledging loyalty to the US shmuel? If much of the worlds states can define themselves as Islamic counties, I think there is room for one Jewish State.
Sorry, Julian, but if you as a little kid didn’t say your Pledge of Allegiance in school, your government wouldn’t deport you. On the other hand, Lieberman’s Nabka-denying dogma would summarily use the Israel “loyalty oath” to kick Arabs out of Israel. Big difference.
My original point stands. I don’t want my US tax dollars subsidizing an ultra- racist, semitic-supremacist country that is ethnically cleansing Palestine, incinerating women and children with US-engineered white phosphorus weapons, and telling my Jewish wife that she’s been abducted by goyim. You don’t have dual loyalty — you’re an American who puts Israel’s interests ahead of your native country.
As usual, Julian? I don’t recall your having pointed out my many errors before.
Source for the separate account assertion please. In any case, you have not addressed my main point, which was that non-Jews in Israel are forced to fund programmes and policies that discriminate agains them and run counter to their interests.
Netanyahu/Lieberman’s proposed oath is to be a one time oath at the age of 16 (the age at which identity cards are issued) of loyalty to Israel AS A JEWISH STATE. Those who refuse are to be denied identity cards and certain civil rights. This is in no way comparable to the non-compulsory, penalty-free US “pledge of allegance”, which stipulates no particular ethno-religious character.
If you would like to explain why you think it is OK for Israel to discriminate on the basis of ethnicity or religion, and it is not OK for the US to do so, I am all ears. If you would rather debate details and false analogies – so long as you score points for your “team”, count me out.
Julian, what you say is not true. The IMF supports Israel uber alles. It amounts to an
economic boyscott on Palestinian hopes. There is no room for any state at the USA’s expense which defines itself as rascist or ethnic uber alles. Besides,as a practical
matter, Israel has no oil, so rubber-stamping Israeli policy cannot even be defended
on pragmatic grounds. Where does this leave our Middle East foreign policy?
I wonder what Dr. Nurit Peled-Elhanan has to say about this latest Israeli Hasbara crap? One thing which surprised me was that the advertisement did not show Dr. Ahmadinejad in porn – as is the usual practice in past of Israel Occupation Force and Israel’s department of tourism…
link to rehmat1.wordpress.com
I thought the clip was very funny. I don’t see how it was offensive?
Tell me.
Me too. Now I’d liked to see Ms Mermelstein (Of Birthright Unplugged) superimposed
on the figure behind the admissions desk and Lieberman’s superimposed over the Iranian president’s, the applicant for the trip–he could break out in rascist settler tirades. Then we see him travelling on a Birthright Unplugged trip to a snappy tune.
LOL.
The clip shows flagrant contempt of concern for Palestinians rights, but I know better than to expect you to be offended by that.
How? I didn’t see that in the film.
But, I do see flagrant misrepresentation and contempt for Israel, Israelis and young Jews, in the post.
The clip mocks Ahmadinejad’s concern for Palestinian rights by suggesting that his fury towards Israel is completely unfounded, and that he would be overjoyed with Israel if only he came to visit. Granted, I still don’t expect you to see anything wrong with that.
While I do have contempt for the Israeli government and those who support it’s ongoing denial of Palestinian rights; I respect those who don’t, Jews and Israelis particularly so, young and otherwise. Your claim to the contrary as well the misrepresentation charge only further proves how delusional you are.
I didn’t perceive any dismissal of legitimate Palestinian needs and aspirations in the video, just a parody of Ahmenidijad.
Yep, “just a parody of Ahmenidijad.”
How’d you like my revised parody? Up above in this thread–you ignored it.
Witty, you constantly fail to perceive vast swaths of reality which contradict your ideological bias. Your “legitimate Palestinian needs and aspirations” phrase suggests you even have trouble acknowledging the fact that Palestinians have rights. I am sure if I made a parody video of a Jewish leader coming to fall in love with 1939 Germany for its localities and cuisine, you would have no trouble acknowledging the disregard for Jewish rights in that.
“It’s springtime for Hitler, and Ger-ma-ny…”
and
“If you knew her like I do, you wouldn’t think she was Jewish at all!”
Not offensive, Richard. Just dopey and unfunny.
Citizen:
“I call it sly treason, especially
when one considers how few jews enlisted in the military service to battle against
the war on “terrorism.” A war made up in the fantasy mind of Israel First stink tankers, which afforded the verbiage and rational for what is murdering the USA
as a country to emulate. ”
“When, after WW2 it came down to American wars,”
WW2 wasn’t an American war or it isn’t the war you choose to make your anti Jewish comments about. I’m always glad to hear from Jew haters like you. The more exposure you get the better.
Call me any name. Avoid the historical and present facts. Hasbara 101. You better go back and take a refresher course, Julian–but I agree, the more exposure you get here, the better
towards a more humanistic and USA First future, your spotlight on your own bigotry and lack of interest in such a future speaks for itself.
I really enjoyed my birthright trip, it was an amazing experience that brought me closer to my group and also Israel.
Good. Germany and Ireland should sponsor such birthright trips too. That would bring kin Americans closer as a group and also to Germany and Ireland.